When the Syracuse Orange (22-1, 9-1) come to Fifth Third Arena Sunday afternoon (2:00 P.M.), they will present the Bearcats with a golden opportunity to make its case to those who doubt their qualifications for the NCAA Tournament.

With Boeheim, you know exactly what you're going to face - the match-up zone. You know it's coming, yet somehow you can't beat it. The Bearcats know it's coming, and they're going to have to find a way to penetrate it and get open looks. Unfortunately for them, even when they do get open looks, they miss. Facing a zone like Syracuse, if you shoot a conference-low .298 from three-point range, you could be in for a very long afternoon.

The rotation for Syracuse is simple – seven players. That’s it. Despite the fact that nine players average over 10 minutes of action, Boeheim has played just seven in the past five games straight. However, only two of those seven averages over 30 minutes per game and no one plays more than 35 minutes, so even though the bench is short, it doesn’t appear as if anyone is running ragged at this point in the season. And the Orange has been lucky when it comes to injuries as well – Boeheim has started the same five players for every game this year. It is quite a contrast to Mick Cronin and the Bearcats who clearly don’t have that same luxury.

Wesley Johnson is option number one for the Orange. The 6-7 wing hasn’t missed a beat since transferring from Iowa State. He has shown very little signs of rust and is averaging a team-leading 16.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. More impressive are his shooting percentages: .545 from the field, .747 from the line, and .425 (31-of-73) from three-point range. He is dangerous as soon as he steps on the floor. He did suffer a minor leg injury in the Providence game Tuesday night, but he returned to action for a few minutes before resting most of the second half as the Orange had the game in hand. And even though he sat out practice on Thursday and only did light work on Friday, don’t expect him to miss Sunday’s tilt with the Bearcats. Johnson has not scored double-figures in just two games: Providence (8 points in just 22 minutes) and against Maine (7 points in just 19 minutes). He also has 10 double-doubles on the season so the Bearcats are really going to have to tighten things up all the way around from Thursday night’s embarrassment in South Bend.

6-7 Kris Joseph hasn’t started one game this year, yet he is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game. The sophomore is also third in rebounds with 5.3 per game so he’s making the most of his 26.5 minutes. He doesn’t shoot much from three-point range (only 4-of-25) so he’ll focus more inside the arc where he shoots at a .590 clip. Joseph is adept at getting to the foul line. In fact, his 96 foul shots are the most on the team and he shoots a respectable .729 from the line and is 20 of his last 24 (.833). He is coming off his most productive scoring night of the season – 23 against Providence

Arinze Onuaku is also coming off his highest scoring output of the season – 20 – against Providence. The 6-9 senior center is only averaging 10.3 which is exactly what he averaged last season for the Orange. However, his rebounding totals are down significantly the last two seasons. This year he is grabbing 4.5 where last year he averaged 7.3 and even 8.1 his sophomore season. He will certainly be a focal point for the Bearcats either way as he has demonstrated his abilities in the past. Onuaku scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Orange’s 87-63 obliteration of the Bearcats last season. His .686 field goal percentage is tops in the Big East, so when he does shoot, it’s likely to go in.

6-4 guard Andy Rautins is having a solid senior year. His point totals and rebounds are similar to last season – 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds – but his assists are up to 5.0 per game as are his shooting totals - .423 from the field (up from .380), free throws .778 (up from .733), and three-point shooting .383 (up from .366). He’ll fire from anywhere especially behind the arc – his 41 three-point attempts are fourth in the conference. However, he is only shooting 7-of-29 (.241) over his last four games from the field, including just 6-of-26 from behind the line (can you see where he shoots the most from?).

Brandon Triche has come in and taken over the reins from Jonny Flynn quite well. The 6-4 freshman isn’t the scoring threat Flynn was, but he doesn’t need to be. He averages 9.8 points and 3.2 assists, but takes care of the ball and gets his teammates where they need to be. Triche shoots very well from the floor - .526 overall and .414 (24-of-58) from three-point range.

Like most freshman, Triche goes through peaks and valleys. And when he goes through a valley like he did against DePaul (19 minutes, 1 point), Scoop Jardine comes in and takes control. The redshirt sophomore hit a couple big shots down the stretch to save the Orange an embarrassing loss to the Blue Demons last Saturday. He hasn’t been a high impact player this season, but he has been steady to the tune of 8.0 points and 4.9 assists per game. The 6-2 Jardine doesn’t shoot much from three-point land (only 23 attempts) so he will stay inside the arc and create enough contact for himself to get to the line a pretty fair amount (60 times). And when he does, like most of the Orange, he is a good foul shooter at .767. If you subtract Onuaku and Rick Jackson’s numbers, the Orange would be a .730 foul shooting team. Luckily for the Bearcats, you can’t substitute foul shooters. So, if the Bearcats are looking to foul someone down the stretch, you can bet it’ll be either Onuaku, who shoots .434 from the line, or Jackson who shoots .492.

Rick Jackson starts at power forward for the Orange. The 6-9 junior averages 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He isn’t flashy or dominant in any way. He just comes to play every game. Much like Onuaku, if he takes a shot, it’s going to be in the lane and it most likely is going in. His .592 clip ranks third in the conference behind Onuaku and Connecticut’s Gavin Edwards. In last year’s win over the Bearcats, Jackson scored 13 but only grabbed three boards.

On paper, sure this one might be a “mismatch”. Thankfully for the Bearcats, it won’t be played on paper. It will be played at Fifth Third Arena where UC is 11-1 on the season with that one loss by just three points to a Pittsburgh team who, at that time, was on fire. The last time the Orange came to Fifth Third, the Bearcats prevailed 74-66. (On a personal note: I remember every second of that game as I watched the game with my one-day old son in my arms from the hospital. Good times!)

For the Bearcats to prevail this time, they’ll need the Cashmere Wright of the Providence game to show up along with the rest of his roller coaster riding teammates. Hopefully that, and a boisterous crowd buoy the boys to a huge win.